To the editor: The Arlington County Board shapes county growth and development under advisement of the Planning Commission, as mandated by state law, with more than a dozen other commissions also weighing in.
Having attended many meetings this past month to review “Missing Middle” (now known as “expanded housing options” or EHO) zoning and land use, I had a front-row seat to view commission operations. It was appalling.
At the Feb. 22 Joint Facilities Advisory Commission (JFAC) meeting, the commission left no time for a staff briefing on EHO, even though a final County Board decision was just weeks away. Ultimately, JFAC gave no specific advice to the County Board on the advance facilities planning needed for a six-fold density increase in residential areas, proffering only a whispered admonition that “broad and long-range planning and visioning . . . in light of these potential changes is an essential implementation.”
A bare majority of the Commission on Aging supported the EHO proposal, but misunderstood that four-plexes were the maximum density option, because they had dispensed with the usual staff brief. One abstaining commissioner noted that EHO changes were a “disservice to older adults” (those she is charged to represent) but noted “it is right for the county.” Why not vote “no”?
One Transportation Commission member veered off topic, calling current zoning a “racist suicide pact” – with no evidence EHO improves diversity. Commissioners ignored data from public commenters, as it was out of step with the Transportation Commission’s endorsement of maximum EHO buildout even for neighborhoods most remote from transit networks.
The Commission on Climate Change, Energy and Environment failed over four months to opine on multiple specific draft upzoning amendments, leaving on the table only a partly-relevant letter of July 2022.
Many commission members – some newly appointed – lacked sufficient expertise or failed to apply critical/strategic analysis; some decisions favored dogma over data.
Unless commissions and commissioners offer timely, professional, and data-driven advice to the County Board, Arlington should disband all but the state-mandated Planning Commission.
Anne Bodine, Arlington
